RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2014 Sponsored by M&G Investments 19th May - Press day
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is a fabulous world class event celebrating spring's most delightful annual flower fest spread across the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
The walk along Eastern Avenue with its arched corridor of green trees had several stands selling a variety of arts & crafts, garden and household wares.
I walked towards The Great Pavilion filled with excitement as I hadn't been to the Chelsea Flower Show for some years and was glad to have been given the opportunity to represent Pukka PR.
The Great Pavilion was bursting with blooms, magnificent displays and distinctive designs - a real sensory overload at first sight. There were gardens galore featuring flowers and plants from many lands, obviously a lot of hard work had gone into creating the exhibits. I went around admiring displays taking many photos. One of the finest and oldest exhibitors was Kelways.
Grenada the ‘isle of spice' was a red hot display of exotic flowers and spices with an added attraction of a steel band and friendly team like that of most exhibitors. I was totally absorbed viewing the exhibits and creations, like a bee attracted to rich colours I flitted from one display to another.
Hillier's ‘White Garden' was very pretty and had a crowd of people around it as Hillier was celebrating 150 years with cake and champagne at a party - while the charity Perennial was celebrating its 175th anniversary this year.
The wide range of gardens included the wild, formal, sweet-smelling, artistic, scientific, futuristic, celebratory, commemorative (in memory of FWW) organic and holistic.
Mounds of flowers screamed vibrant colour, in the midst, pagodas and golden statues decorated with beautiful tropical blooms were found at the Thai exhibit.
The bright and bold Waitrose exhibit with fresh fruit, flowers and vegetables and, the grand City of Birmingham exhibit with its gigantic, heroic, bronzy red poppies were simply outstanding.
‘Having A Ball' exhibit showcased the charming work of The Young Chelsea Florists of the Year who'd created ‘fantasy' floral dresses that had apparently been worn at a Crystal Ball.
The love of nature, gardening and enthusiasm to grow and create was evident everywhere and there were some amazing, highly artistic, sophisticated garden sculptures along with architectural follies on display too.
On quiet reflection I felt gardeners and growers are the caring noble keepers or marshals of our precious planet. Ever pushing boundaries, gardeners create designs that have been carefully plotted and potted. The beauty of nature offers perpetual pleasure while design can be traced to the very beginning of time and to the cradle of our fantastic universe.
Some flowers and plants featured at Chelsea were discovered by plant hunters on expeditions over a century ago and today they survive and thrive on this pukka isle of great diversity.
©Article and Photos by Amita Chatterji.
Media man David posing in flowery suit
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Chef Raymond Blanc
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Chelsea Flower Show Press Day